Top Parenting Guide: Hyperactive Kids & After School Activities
ADHD refers to attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder. Most kids who
suffer from this disorder suffer from attention problems as well as hyperactivity. Parents of such kids are well aware that inattention and hyperactivity continue throughout the day. Keeping such kids busy after school hours can be as difficult as keeping them safe during the school day.
The first step when selecting the right after school activity for your child is to understand how ADHD affects them. Is your child interested in sports? Are they put off by the fierce competitiveness, or do they find it hard to get along with teammates? Does your child vocalize their feelings, or is communication a problem?
For a child suffering from ADHD, physical exercise is always desirable. Exercise takes up the extra energy and helps to stimulate the brain. Team activities teach social skills and discipline. But, if your child shies away from team sports, you may want to look at activities like hiking, cycling gymnastics or swimming. Martial arts not only teach techniques of self-defense but also help to develop self-control and patience.
If your child shows aversion to sport and shows inclination towards the arts, you may need to look at some other options. Acting classes can be a wonderful form of creative exercise. It also offers the child ample opportunity to develop their social skills. Music, art or dance can help the child to keep themself busy and entertained.
In case the child is not interested in any of the above, you may want them to join a Boy Scouts club or other community oriented clubs. Cleaning a park, putting on a show, helping out in an old age home are various activities that may pique your child’s interest.
Whatever form of activity you picl, make sure that you monitor your child’s progress periodically. If you feel that there is no progress, you may need to change the activity. Anything that increases your child’s self-esteem is good. You may enlist the help of the coach or teacher to assess your child’s development.
There are certain activities that are detrimental to a child suffering from ADHD. Computer and video games are a definite NO. Since these games need no interaction, kids will feel all the more isolated. These kidschildren also find it difficult to distinguish between the good and the bad messages. Games that need the child to sit and wait for his turn patiently tax their patience and will not be a success.
Although you would want these kids to be as near to normal as possible, understanding their needs and limits will help you select the right after school activity - one that is fulfilling, tiring as well as challenging.
Face painting is a wonderful hobby for a parent and child to share:
Easy face painting designs
easy face painting designs
face painting ideas